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EMPERORS GUARD
An elite military force established by Sephis I to protect the city of Corianth exclusively, replacing the Knights of Eiom that Sephas was forced to destroy in majority at the Siege of Eiom. The Emperors Guard have been a constant source of immediate power, prestige, and protection for the long lines of Emperors in their struggles against the Holy Father and the Cardinals Men of the Order of Omicron, as each vied for the greater authority over the Corianth Empire as a whole. However, nowadays, the Emperors Guard have simply become a form of elitist schooling for the richer classes of the city, although the number of new recruits falls every year, leaving the Emperors Guard at an all time low in terms of manpower, leaving an unproportionally high number of officers to private soldiery. A contributory reason for this is the Emperors Guard laissez-faire attitude to military training, which is now little practised, instead preferring to involve themselves primarily in the latest decorative fashions and sit around drinking cups of tea and eating cakes. Although still serving a constitutional purpose, they have become too self-indulgent in their own riches and vanities, thus making the Emperors Guard weak in relation to the discipline and organisation of other armed forces, such as the Cardinals Men, a point of fact that Mulrek wishes to exploit in collaboration with Lord Rynell.
DRESS - Privates (knights) of the Emperors Guard all wear dark blue cotton long sleeved shirts and trousers, and polished black knee high boots sporting silver buckles. On top of this clothing, for protection they wear a polished breastplate, affectionately known as a clapper, that encompasses their upper body, the front of which is carefully etched with the symbol of the dragon, and they wear wide rounded helms upon their heads.
Officers ( lords), however, dress without armour, each wearing a uniform similar as above, only more decoratively so, and a long velvet coat that adorns their body. Upon their heads each wears a wide brimmed black felt hat, a long white feather clipped upon it that plumes down upon their shoulders. The colour of each officers' uniform, however, changes according to their rank. The first promotion above private is knight lieutenant, the officer of which wears threads dyed a light blue, whereas the next rank, that of captain, is dressed in a similar dark blue to the men. The next officer class in ascendancy is that of Colonel, who dresses in a lilac velvet coat, and then commander, who wears purple. The highest functioning administrative ranks, being general, wear white and silver. |
